Archive for Baby Goad
Sweet Girl…
Lillian is 6 months old today. Time is just flying by. I just told Keith that I wish she could be a baby for a couple of years. Although parenting is challenging for me physically, I feel overwhelmingly blessed. Thank you Lord for this precious little gift!
“at the works of your hands I sing for joy”
Wow! I can’t even express in words the continual joys and trials I (I really need to say we) have faced over the past 11 weeks since our sweet Lillian arrived. This season has been one of the hardest, most sanctifying and yet greatest of my life. I praise the Lord for His faithfulness. His power has been evident every minute of every day. He showed His faithfulness to me through His word, a loving family, His church and the loving, caring spouse He has graciously blessed me with. (Thank you Keith for all of your encouragement and for helping me to fight the good fight even when I felt like I couldn’t) During late nights while feeling overwhelmed by the darkness I was reminded that darkness is as light with God and I was comforted. All around I feel blessed and really just amazed by God’s grace as I wouldn’t have made it without it!
Psalm 139:11-12 “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.”
Psalm 92:1-4 “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.”
Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow
Keith and I are overjoyed to annouce that our little blessing arrived safely on April 24th at 7:13 pm. We’ve named her Lillian Marie and she was 6 pd’s 10 oz. and 19 3/4 ” long. My dr. suggested that we induce because I was so close to going into labor at my appointment on the 24th and she felt like having me go into labor in a controlled environment would be best. It turned out to be a huge blessing because instead of going home and laboring that day (with Lillian in distress and us not knowing it) we were able to find out that Lillian wasn’t responding well to contractions (her heartrate kept dropping really low) so I ended up having a C Section. I wasn’t ever induced because they thought she would continue to respond poorly. We have been humbled and overwhelmed by the Lord’s grace and mercy as Lillian arrived safely and in good health.
We praise you Lord for our little blessing and look forward to the days ahead!
“the incomparable riches of his grace”
As my due date approaches I’m having to daily (more like hourly) lay my anxieties at the feet of my Savior. Along with the joy and excitement that pregnancy has brought, I am constantly tempted to lose perspective and let fear and anxiety take over. This battle has been humbling and has left me feeling weary at times. I’m finding comfort in my Savior as I remember that the same God who is patiently bearing with me as I sin and lose perspective is the same God that patiently endured the sins of the world on the cross. His mercy and patience are unfathomable and I praise Him for this!
“When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me”
(From: Before the Throne of God above – Charity L. Bancroft – 1863)
Ephesians 2:4-7 “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Clinging to the Unchangeable One
I was recently reminded while reading “Morning Thoughts” by Octavius Winslow of the immutability of God’s promises. As my due date approaches and with it numerous changes, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and fearful of what the future holds. What consolation I find in my heavenly Father who isn’t subject to change. It’s so comforting to cling to the one who’s love and faithfulness go on no matter what. Here’s how Octavius puts it:
“Mutability marks everything outside of God. Look into the church, into the world, into our families, into ourselves; what innumerable changes do we see on every hand! A week, one short day, what alterations does it produce! Yet, in the midst of it all, how good it is to repose calmly on the unchangeableness, the faithfulness of God; to know that no alterations of time, no earthly changes, affect His faithfulness to His people; and more than this: no changes in them, no unfaithfulness of theirs, causes the slightest change in God.”
James 1:16-18 “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”
A picture of our little gift…
Baby Girl Goad
I’m finally getting around to posting this picture from my ultrasound. Our daughter kept moving so much that most of the pictures turned out blurry. I think she’s going to be a thumb-sucker because in a couple of the pictures she was either sucking her thumb or had her hand next to her mouth.
